A/N: I've decided this story will have more than 1 case. While I finish up the first one involving the murder of North, Jack and Elsa will progress on with their lives, still in danger, but facing different situations together. I'm just starting to get bored with this certain case and have more ideas in store (everything will still be published here), so I'm sorry if this chapter seems kind of rushed. Here you go!:


Elsa

It's been three days, and Jack decided today would be the day we would return to Guardian U. I knew people would be gossiping about us, and about the sniper's attack—so we had to be careful. I would have to proceed calling Jack by his undercover name, Max, in public.

Upon returning to the university, I was surprised to find Anna sprint up to me when I stepped off the motorcycle, and embrace me roughly, with Rapunzel trailing behind. "Anna?" I nearly choke, startled by the sudden impact.

"I'm so sorry," she's crying, tears pooling in her azure eyes. "God, I'm such a horrible sister. I never realized how much I loved you until I heard you were attacked by some crazy man!"

My heart melts, and I hug her back. "Oh, Anna."

"I missed you so much, it hurt. When the shooting was announced over the PA, for a moment, I thought you were hit—and died."

Rapunzel joins in on the hug, and I sigh. I knew she was going to apologize, and though I was confused by her change in heart—I had to think about letting Anna in again, not shutting her out. Jack had shown me that learning to love someone didn't always mean you'd get hurt, and I had always yearned for a good relationship with Anna again—just like when we were little.

"I'm here now, Anna. I forgive you for everything."

"Thank you—so much," she sniffles. "I'm going to make it up to you. I promise. I will never ignore you again."

Rapunzel piped up while Anna and I were still locked in embrace. "I can't believe some wacko tried to kill you and Max Snow; I wonder why."

"People are just messed up," Anna replied, having no clue of the fact that Jack was a secret agent, targeted by many people. "But—Elsa, do you have yourself a new boyfriend?"

"N—no," I laugh, partially lying. I mean, were Jack and I—together? I wasn't sure. "We're just friends."

After my reunion with Anna, I went to the lost and found to retrieve my fallen backpack and phone. But strange enough: they weren't there.

"That's so weird," Anna was with me. "You'll probably have to tell Auntie, and we'll have to disable your phone if we can't find it after. But I know—it sucks."

The school had changed after Jack and I's disappearance. The security system was improved, and specifically Jack and I couldn't leave campus for a week. Teachers were hard on us and required us to make up extra work—I struggled in classes, because I wasn't paying much attention as usual. My thoughts were set on the action-packed adventure I experienced—and I wondered if I would have one like it again.


Jack

"Dude, we were all worried sick!" Flynn yells out, as a crowd forms around me. "Where the hell were you?"

"We were freaked out—the criminal chased us, and I grabbed a motorcycle. We stayed at an inn, but now we're fine."

"We're glad for your safe return, Mr. Snow," a cool, slick voice sounds aloud. I look forward to meet the same set of intimidating yellow eyes—Pitch.

"Thank you," I respond idly.

Hans speaks up. "That was my motorcycle, you idiot. You're paying for the damage on the back."

I gulped. "I'm so sorry."

"Calm yourself, Mr. Westergard," says Pitch. "He had no other options while being chased."

Hans shut up then, but his face resembled a stubborn baby about to throw a tantrum.

"Come, now, Mr. Snow. We'll get you cleaned up in the house."

I nod, but as I'm being dragged away by the Nightmares—I steal one last glance at Elsa: the only one I trusted.

After I was granted some space from my frat brothers—especially Flynn, I snuck outside at night to retrieve an email. I rolled down my sleeve and tapped on my watch's screen, viewing a recent report sent from Bunny.

"We found something big. The note's background symbol of a sun matches a pub's logo. The pub is near the inn you stayed at; directions are attached. We think that the sender of the note owns this place, so we looked up any sort of contact info for the address. Nothing was found, just like with the fingerprints. You need to go over there tonight and find out what the hell is going on."

Well, what do you know? I feel a little dazed by this sudden command, considering I had just arrived back, but I respond: "got it. I'll set out tonight."

At precisely 11pm, most of the fraternity is up playing nothing else but table tennis. I told Flynn I wanted to get some sleep when he offered me to join—and truthfully, I was supposed to be in bed. I wasn't even supposed to be off campus until the week ended—but I had to go over to that pub tonight.

I sneak out with my directions and take a taxi, making sure my pistol was hidden deep in my pocket in case of an emergency. Rain pours against my window, and I count the drops trickling down. The air was dense and foggy again, and I was expecting a massive storm to roll by.

When we arrive at the pub, I pay the driver and examine my surroundings once he leaves. A long, narrow building with a sign upfront, made up of letters that glowed in the dark, stood before my eyes. I assumed the letters resembled the pub's name—but strange enough, the sign looked distorted. I could tell some letters were missing, and only few remained: "C-R-A'S BEST BEERS AND WINES".

I couldn't make out any words from C-R-A; I would have to step inside and gather more information. Upon doing so, the place looked deserted. Most of the lights were out, and it was awfully chilly. The only sign of life in there was a lone bartender wiping the counters nearby.

"Excuse me, are you open?" I step forward. "I'm Max Snow. Just looking for a drink."

The bartender lifted his head up at me, and I noticed he was a tall, musky man with tattoos and piercings covering his body. "What kind of drink?" he speaks in a tough accent.

"Just a beer. Uh—a Budlight."

He fetches an icy bottle, and I sit on a barstool. I look around—the paneled wall has no signs or logos on it, and the room itself seems completely blank.

"May I ask what the pub's name is?" I begin, as I couldn't find a sign of it anywhere. What if the name could be a hint to reveal the murderer of North?

"Why?" he sounds very skeptic. I was taken aback; was my question really that hard to answer? "I'm just curious."

He saunters over to me, a mask of annoyance written over his face. I don't cower back, but bite my lip at his sudden movement.

"Men, assemble!" I hear him shout. "He's here!"

"What? Who's here?" I ask, and before I know it, two other men sprint to me from the back of the bar. The main difference they had from the bartender was that they wore heavy black masks—I couldn't make out their faces.

My gut told me to take out my gun, and I did so. I aimed directly at the three burly men standing in front of me—they freeze on point.

"Who are you talking about?" I bellow.

The bartender smirks deviously, revealing a set of teeth stained yellow. "You—Jack Frost. You thought I believed you for a second when you claimed to be Max Snow?"

I inhale sharply. "I swear to god, I'll shoot this—at all three of you—unless you tell me who you work for."

They're silent.

"You all worked with that sniper, didn't you?" I continue.

"Yes—but our Boss—" the second man piped up, only to be slapped on the head by the bartender.

"Don't mention anything! You can't blow our Boss' cover, idiot!"

"I'll shoot!" I remind them. "Now, I'm going to ask you one more time—who do you work for?"

A crack of thunder sounds above the roof, and I could see storm clouds roll in through the window. The three men are silent again, and I shake my head in disappointment.

"It's such a shame you all are giving up your lives easily," my finger moves closer to the trigger. "Well, I guess I'll just have to—"

"Wait!" yelled the third man, who suddenly fell to the ground on his knees. Was he—pleading? "Por favor, don't do this. I—I have a wife. And a family. I need to feed them."

"Markos! You lowlife coward!" the bartender sneered. "Once Boss finds out—"

I take the third man's word into consideration. "On my word, I will let you go—and I am a man of my promises. But first, you need to tell me who you work for, and what they want from me."

"They want you to drop the case," he spoke desperately, "Because they murdered the dean of Guardian U, and don't want to be caught. They told us all to look out for you—to kill you if we crossed paths. And—"

"Enough!" the first man roared—I wasn't sure now if he really was a bartender, considering he worked for the murderer. "You're not worthy of us anymore—you've betrayed us all! Now, you won't speak another word!"

He tackled him—and being so much bigger than us all, he had the ability to roughly snap his neck. I flinched at his horrifying screams, and without hesitation, shot the attacker.

A bullet pierced into his chest, and he looked down—blood splattered onto the floor. He fell down with a heavy thud—and now, I had to rely on the second man to give me the information I needed.

He looked paralyzed in fear, so I broke the silence. "You need to answer these questions for me—now."

He ran.

I took after him, but he was fast. He bolted out the door, legs pumping and arms flailing. I chased him through the parking lot, down a steep hill—my body screamed for air, but I kept my pace. I pulled out my gun to aim at him, but he hopped over a stone wall before I could shoot. My feet pounded through the grass, and I jumped as well to end up in a lot that looked clearly abandoned.

I know there's a cutoff to the area when I spot a high cliff straight ahead of us. "Stop!" I yell out, but he only runs faster, not noticing anything.

I grunt and push myself faster, despite the surge of exhaustion filling my body. "CLIFF!"

The man looked back at me, but then halted dead in his tracks when his feet stood at the very edge. Rocks began to crumble down at his sudden impact, and the ground began to split. "Ah—ahhh!" he shrieked, as a clap of thunder sounded through the skies.

His shaking legs began to give out as they slid further apart from each other. I sprinted forward—if I saved him, he could give me more information.

"I'll spare you!" I announce, grabbing onto his arm and pulling him toward me. He grunted, and the section of the ground he stood on fell down to the earth below. Dust began to cloud around us, and with all my might, I jerked the both of backwards, but held him in place as he fell on my stomach.

He squirmed, trying to get away from me—I clenched my teeth, deciding to make a threat. "I'll shoot you if you try anything."

"You—wouldn't—" he reached his hands out, fingers crawling through the dirt.

My grasp was held tightly around his neck. "I would—unless you tell me your boss."

"Never."

Another idea came to my mind. "What a shame. Guess I'll just have to find out who you are."

Before he could respond, I ripped his mask off to find a haunting set of green eyes stare through mine—tussled auburn hair streaked with dirt and rain.

"Hans."

"I—I'm sorry," he gasped. "I'm the nark, I meant no harm—that's why I ran!"

"The nark—so, you're the murderer's little spy." The fact that Hans was a nark takes a while to sink into my brain, but once it does, I clutch onto his neck tighter. "Were you spying on me this whole time?!" I feel a rush of anger course in my veins.

"GL—I—GLURRK!"

I sigh and let go of his throat, focusing my hold on his arm. "Answer me."

"I—I had to!"

My thoughts focus back to the night where I contacted Bunny, and I thought a rabbit was the cause of a rustle in the bushes. But, it very well could've been Hans—how could I have been so dumb to not figure that out?

"The true villains have been in front of me this whole time," I sneer, a part of Hans' shirt knotted in my fist. "It was you all along! I knew it; I should've done something to Pitch earlier!"

"Pitch? What are you talking about?"

"Who else? Your boss! Your companion; your master, who practically has you on a leash! The sender of the kind note I received, and the cold-blooded murderer of his own uncle."

"No—it wasn't him..." I saw a twinge of guilt reflect in Hans' eyes.

"Insolent liar! You've helped someone who killed his own family, probably just to earn a good spot in that damned fraternity of yours; you coward!"

"Max—"

"Don't even try calling me that anymore! You knew my cover, my real name from the start anyway—and if Pitch wanted me dead, why couldn't he have just fought me himself, like a man? For what he did, and for hiring you all to do his dirty work, he should die!"

"It wasn't him! He's not my boss!"

"Then who is?!" I experience the urge to beat him until he responds, but I hold my frustration in.

He gulps.

"Well?" I hiss.

From that moment on, I realize he wasn't gulping from the fear of me. He was gulping from the fear of someone else—of the dark shadow that lurked over me as I was knelt on the grass beside Hans. I wasn't aware of it, until I felt a heavy object bash against my head.

I gasp and fall to the floor; a mocking chuckle echoes, harmonizing with the thunder rolling by. "Very good work, Hans—you've captured him right at Corona's Best Beers and Wines!"

My eyes widened; black dots began to fill my vision, but from here—everything clicked to me. So Hans wasn't lying about Pitch being the true murderer after all!

I lift my head up to meet a face that I was once thought was friendly and giddy; long blonde hair is strewn across the murderer's face, and a pair of dark green orbs seemingly scorch my sight from all the insanity and madness cluttered in them. "R—Rapunzel..."

"Well, you found my family's bar after all!" she cackled. "You've arrived sooner than expected, though—I was hoping I could send you more notes."

"You think this is some sort of game?" I growl.

"Of course," I see her bounce the heavy object she used on me in her hand—it was a frying pan. "But, it won't be complete—at least, until we retrieve that lovely girlfriend of yours."

"No! Not Elsa!" I roar, mustering all the strength I have left to prop myself up on one elbow.

She laughed cruelly, and stepped on my arm above me—it fell limp. "Don't worry, I won't hurt her. That is—if you do what I say."

"I don't understand! You, out of all people, murdered the dean? Why?"

She gritted her teeth together. "That shouldn't matter to you, Frost. You should only be concerned about your immense stupidity—I mean, how could you not have known this was my family's place?"

"Because you cleared all contact information from the internet—and the sign is distorted, if you can't tell! I would've seen your last name if it weren't for the missing letters." I would've spit in her face if her foot wasn't crushing my arm at the moment.

"Well, a girl must be careful with her sources—you would've caught me if I didn't clear it, or break the sign myself. Screwdrivers do come in handy nowadays."

"You witch! I should've known all along!"

"You're right, you should've. But you're too stupid to be an agent—you're worthy of nothing. You probably only found this pub because the note I sent was one of our signature cards, which, may I say, was a hint that took you forever to catch onto."

"I should be saying you're worthless; you disgusting, murderous, crazy bit—"

"Ah ah ah! Where were we, now?" she scolds me. "Right! I was at that part where I'd knock you out."

"Flynn's going to find out all about this! All of it!"

"But you won't escape to tell him, Frost. You'll never escape."

With that, she held the frying pan up once more—and right as it hit me again, the darkness swallowed me.

The last thing that flooded my mind was the beautiful face of Elsa's: my love—who was now in danger.


A/N: So here's a plot twist for you all! I focused on Jack thinking Pitch was the main suspect at first—but trust me, Pitch isn't 100% innocent either. Though he's not the true killer, he's a part of the situation that led up to the murder of North, which will be explained soon! (Also, I wanted to say that my idea for the note's background and pub's logo [a sun] came from Tangled: the symbol of the kingdom Corona. That way, it's not too random.)

Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against Rapunzel. I only used her as the villain because I thought it would be an interesting twist; I actually adore her. Thank you for reading!